I am returning to a bit of Ruby hacking after spending a couple of years =
away from it. I met someone who is newer to Ruby and caught some of =
their excitement for it (Hi Dan).=20

My day job has me writing Java code. As many of you will know the =
default build tool for Java projects is ANT. ANT is a step forward from =
the pre-ANT world, but has problems -- one of the big ones is that it is =
XML based, and thus verbose. XML as good as YAML for data, and not as =
good as Ruby for programming . =20

Dan and I were talking about building a Ruby replacement for ANT. One =
week-end we both decided to start writing it, and came up with =
test-cases.. Dan came up with a name (BOB), and there is now a piece of =
vapourware.

My test cases are to do with ANT FileSetish behavour.

Ant has some interesting globbing functionality that works very similar =
to File::fnmatch, but slightly different.

I like the ant way, but don't want to suprise Ruby people.

Here is the test cases that talk about the behaviour I want.

File.fnmatch would provide similar functionality (with =
File::FNM_PATHNAME it comes really close), except I don't see that the =
last test could past easily.

Before I make the last test pass, I want to know if Ruby people would =
find the behaviour described to be suprising?

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1264" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hi,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I am returning to a bit of Ruby hacking =
after=20
spending a couple of years away from it.&nbsp; I met someone who is =
newer to=20
Ruby and caught some of their excitement for it (Hi Dan). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>My day job has me writing Java =
code.&nbsp; As many=20
of you will know the default build tool for Java projects is ANT.&nbsp; =
ANT is a=20
step forward from the pre-ANT world, but has problems -- one of the big =
ones is=20
that it is XML based, and thus verbose.&nbsp; XML as good as YAML for =
data, and=20
not as good as Ruby for programming .&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dan and I were talking about building a =
Ruby=20
replacement for ANT.&nbsp; One week-end we both decided to start writing =
it, and=20
came up with test-cases.. Dan came up with a name (BOB), and there is =
now a=20
piece of vapourware.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>My test cases are to do with ANT =
FileSetish=20
behavour.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Ant has some interesting globbing =
functionality=20
that works very similar to File::fnmatch, but slightly =
different.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I like the ant way, but don't want to =
suprise Ruby=20
people.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Here is the test cases that talk about =
the=20
behaviour I want.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>File.fnmatch would provide similar =
functionality=20
(with File::FNM_PATHNAME it comes really close), except I don't see that =
the=20
last test could past easily.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Before I make the last test pass, I =
want to know if=20
Ruby people would find the behaviour described to be =
suprising?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; matcher=20
=3D FilePatternMatcher.new<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =

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* Robert Dawson <> [1008 15:08]:
> Hi,
>
> I am returning to a bit of Ruby hacking after spending a couple of years away from it. I met someone who is newer to Ruby and caught some of their excitement for it (Hi Dan).
> My day job has me writing Java code. As many of you will know the default build tool for Java projects is ANT. ANT is a step forward from the pre-ANT world, but has problems -- one of the big ones is that it is XML based, and thus verbose. XML as good as YAML for data, and not as good as Ruby for programming .

Good luck with this - I was talking only yesterday about
how easy life could be with a tool with the power of ant
tasks and the simplicity of Ruby and YAML - I'm never using
XML again if I can help it, since I got RSI.

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On Sat, 2003-10-18 at 10:06, Robert Dawson wrote:
> Dan and I were talking about building a Ruby replacement for ANT. One week-end
> we both decided to start writing it, and came up with test-cases.. Dan
> came up with a name (BOB), and there is now a piece of vapourware.

On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 06:54:31 +0900
Jim Weirich <> wrote:
> On Sat, 2003-10-18 at 10:06, Robert Dawson wrote:
> > Dan and I were talking about building a Ruby replacement for ANT. One week-end
> > we both decided to start writing it, and came up with test-cases.. Dan
> > came up with a name (BOB), and there is now a piece of vapourware.
>
> You might want to take a look at Rake

I second this. Rake is very cool. (I thought you might want an opinion
from someone other than the author. )

Jason Creighton <> wrote:
> On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 06:54:31 +0900
> Jim Weirich <> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 2003-10-18 at 10:06, Robert Dawson wrote:
>> > Dan and I were talking about building a Ruby replacement for ANT. One week-end
>> > we both decided to start writing it, and came up with test-cases.. Dan
>> > came up with a name (BOB), and there is now a piece of vapourware.
>>
>> You might want to take a look at Rake
>
> I second this. Rake is very cool. (I thought you might want an opinion
> from someone other than the author. )

Has anyone ported a complicated makefile over to rake? That would make
the basis of a good article, I think.

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